The Dead Horse Paint Company — Earl Emerson

It is the stuff of infamy - a tragic event talked to death for years, with no resolution or end in sight. The fire at Dead Horse Paint Company, a huge barn of a store, was a nightmare come true. Lives lost, lives wrecked, Staircase Fire Chief Mac Fontana himself a witness to the carnage. But it wasn't only the fire that raged out of control, it was also the team of firefighters - who committed a series of grave missteps and ended up having to cover their tracks.
Now, years later, the horror comes roaring back. Callahan, the arrogant old fire chief, has been invited to defend his role in a convention seminar on the Deal Horse Paint Company fire. The entire firefighting community, including survivors of the fire, has gathered in Seattle for this. But before Callahan can utter a word, he is found in the trunk of a car - burned, ironically, to a crisp - in the snowy hills outside the town. Is it payback time?
First tragedy, now murder - with apparently a lot in between. Fontana, no longer a disinterested party, has to dig painfully into his memory to find the way out of this one.